Chongzhen took out the ticket from the lottery, handed it to the queen, and said, "Look for yourself, there are a few sentences that are not easy to understand." Zhou Hou took the signed ticket, and saw that it was a seven-character poem:

Spring returns to the earth of grass taro taro, and I see Shengge into the painting boat.

The weather is cold, and the rivers and mountains are warm and smoky.

The jade building lives up to the dream of ten years, and the treasure mirror is empty and lonely.

Don't complain about the deep official voice and ask less, and the goose flies back.

Most of the poems signed by themselves are if they are separated, between the plausible and the seemingly incomprehensible. The Great Hall of Light was built specifically for the needs of the palace. Seventy or eighty years ago, those learned Taoist priests spent a lot of effort in compiling the signature documents in order to suit the situation in the palace. As for the above signed poem, it is said: The first two sentences are very empty; The two sentences are related to national events, but the meaning of the verses before and after them is incoherent; The four sentences of the neck couplet and the tail couplet turned to the palace resentment, which seemed to express sympathy for the concubines who fell out of favor and the palace maids who could not get ahead, but they did not violate the taboo. The signature of the people is generally accompanied by "Xie Ri" after the poem, and the three-character or four-character prose clearly tells the lottery whether the lottery can win the imperial examination, whether the work can be successful, whether the official is smooth, how the marriage is, whether it is auspicious to go abroad, whether to lose or make money in business, whether the illness is auspicious or vicious, how to win or lose the lawsuit, and so on. There is no "explanation" on the signature in the palace, because most of these problems like the above are not applicable to the emperor, concubines, princes, princesses, palace maids and eunuchs. Although some eunuchs do business secretly, some concubines want to be favored by the emperor, and some palace maids want to know if they have a bright future, these questions are not easy to answer clearly in the signed poems, and they can only let the lottery person guess blindly with a poem with a vague meaning.

Zhou Hou read the poem for a while, and felt that the last few sentences were clearly a bit unlucky, and he couldn't help but feel sad. Concubine Tian and Concubine Yuan both stood behind Zhou Hou and read the poems together. Concubine Tian is a very smart person, and she feels heavy in her heart after reading it. But the court has always been full of intrigues, even if it is a husband and wife, there is not much truth, the only hope of being a concubine is to be favored, and the only duty is to make the emperor happy. She smiled deliberately and said, "Please let your majesty the emperor and queen rest assured, although this sign is not very good, it is not bad." According to the concubines, the Jade Emperor's instructions are very clear: from now on, the fortunes of the country should have a turnaround. ”

Chongzhen said: "Concubine Ai will try to explain, let me and the queen listen." ”

"In case the concubine explains otherwise, please forgive the emperor and the queen for their ignorance and lies, and don't see the guilt." Tian Feijiao said with a smile

"Sister, sit down and explain!" Zhou Hou smiled and said, "It's all a family, no outsiders hear it, you just explained it wrong, and the emperor won't blame you." Sister Concubine Yuan, you also sit. Today, I accompanied the emperor to the West Garden to play, but I wanted to be happy and comfortable, and I didn't need to be overly formal. ”

Concubine Tian thanked her seat, took the signed poem with both hands, sat down and said: "According to Concubine Chen's guess, the 'spring returns to the earth' mentioned in this first sentence refers to the turn of the country's fortunes. Spring is the season of recovery and growth of all things, insects are stung, and plants and trees are prosperous. In this kind of verse, if you ask about the disease, the main illness will be cured, and if you ask the national fortune, the main national fortune will gradually improve. Please think about it, Your Majesty, doesn't the second sentence of "see the Shengge people painting boats again" refer to the world seeing peace again? Since the early years of Chongzhen, there has been no such peaceful scene, and now there will be again, so the word 'see you again' is used. ”

Chongzhen nodded frequently and said, "The first two sentences are also so guessed, there will be no mistake, but the next few sentences don't seem auspicious." ”

"Your Majesty is reassured. In fact, there is nothing unlucky about these last few sentences. The meaning of this third sentence is only to say that there are still captive police outside the Seychelles, but it does not say that the captives are rampant and the news is urgent. The fourth sentence is better, which means that the national fortunes have taken a turn for the better, and several wars are about to be overturned. ”

"Is that how it is explained?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, the four words 'the country is warm' correspond to the first sentence of 'spring returns to the earth', which does refer to the gradual improvement of the country's fortunes, and 'Shang Fengyan' just means that there is still beacon smoke that has not yet been appeased, which shows that it is neither the beacon smoke everywhere, nor the war in the ascendant. Originally, the country seemed to have suffered a serious illness, and now that the disease has returned, it will gradually recover, but there are still some problems that need to be treated. ”

Chongzhen couldn't help but smile and nodded, "Good solution, good solution." Then he hurriedly asked: "What about these five or six sentences!" ”

"Your Majesty has been worried and diligent for more than ten years, hoping that the world will be peaceful as soon as possible and all the people will be safe, but the peace of the world has not yet come, so this fifth sentence says, 'Yulou lives up to the dream of ten years'. His Majesty is the king of Yao Shun through the ages, with the bosom of the people, but it's a pity~" Concubine Tian frowned slightly

Chongzhen said: "You just have to speak boldly and directly, don't worry." ”

"It's a pity that the civil and military ministers can't share your Majesty's worries, nor can you embody Your Majesty's painstaking efforts. Your Majesty is like a peerless beauty, self-pity for the mirror, and does not have a sense of being alone and visible, so this sixth sentence is 'The treasure mirror is empty and lonely'. ”

Chongzhen and Zhou Hou nodded with a smile and praised Concubine Tian for her good explanation. She continued: "The emperor is in a nine-fold position, and his heart is terrified, and he is looking forward to good news day and night, just like concubines and people want to know the news of their relatives in their hometown. The good news that the emperor is looking forward to will come soon, so the last two sentences on this sign say: 'Don't complain about the sound of the deep palace, and the goose will fly back.' ”

Chongzhen smiled bitterly and said: "I look at the last two lines of the poem, and it is clear that it is in vain to hope for news. It's not good news, it's just a lonely goose, isn't it hope in vain? ”

Concubine Tian said, "Please don't worry about it, Your Majesty. In the ignorance of the concubines, this last line of the poem uses the allusion of the wild goose carrying the book, so 'the wild goose flies back' is the news that has arrived. What news is the emperor looking forward to? It's a good news from the military. With this line of poetry, you can know that the shortcut is coming soon. ”

Zhou Hou hurriedly said: "I hope it is like what you understand!" ”

"Your Majesty~!" Wang Chengen held the dust in his hand and approached with steps, "Your Majesty, it's time to eat!" ”

"I don't have an appetite, withdraw~" Chongzhen Long's head drooped slightly, supported his forehead with his right hand, raised his left hand and raised it, he was still worried

"Your Majesty, this time it's Shandong cuisine~!" Wang Chengen flipped his wrist slightly, and a small eunuch behind him immediately stepped forward quickly and put a saucer covered with a golden cover on Chongzhen's desk

"Your Majesty, Shandong cuisine~~~" Wang Chengen smiled and opened the gold cover with his own hands, only to see a book on the plate

"Wang Chengen, what is this?" Chongzhen raised his head

Wang Chengen slowly opened the recital, "This is the recital of Song Xuezhu, the governor of Shandong. Song Youliang and Feng Guan not only exterminated the Yuyuan thieves, but also made up for the arrears of the Jinan Mansion Army over the years, and even handed over the 480,000 taels of taxes owed for many years! ”

"Really?" Chongzhen immediately took the chapter, "Ha~haha~hahaha~" Chongzhen's tightly knit brows suddenly relaxed, and he laughed comfortably: "This Song Youliang really didn't disappoint me, and he was able to make him come up with this solution." not only exterminated the Yuyuan thieves, but also helped the court pay nearly one million taels. It's really ~~ it's really ~~ it's really ~~" Chongzhen excitedly said three "true" in a row

"What a pillar of the country!" Wang Chengen said with a smile

"Yes, yes~~ the pillars of the country. If the courtiers of the Ming Dynasty can be like him, why can't I worry about the Ming Dynasty not being able to enrich the country and strengthen the army? Chongzhen was overjoyed

Wang Chengen laughed a few times, but immediately put away his smiling face, and took out a few copies from his sleeve, "Your Majesty, there are still a few folds here, which are also about Song Youliang, does Your Majesty also want to read the Imperial Tour?" ”

"Oh?" Chongzhen was still immersed in joy, he took the fold and watched it, but the more he looked at it, the more angry he became, "This group of speech officials, all day long, they know this and that, Song Youliang distributes food along the way, it is a move to reassure the people, how is it to buy people's hearts and plot against them?" ”

"Hah!" Chongzhen picked up another note, "Cut down trees and sell them to merchants, compete with the people for profit, and fill their own pockets." Song Youliang not only made meritorious contributions to suppressing bandits, but also increased revenue for the treasury, this is a capable official, this is a virtuous official. Why can't these officials come up with such a solution? ”

"And ~~" Wang Chengen was about to hand over the third book

"Don't look at it, don't look at it~" Chongzhen lost his patience

"This book is a bit special, the official Wang Zhiyou Shen Song Youliang pretended to be a relative of the emperor ~ and also blasphemed the lord of Laiyang!" Wang Chengen said cautiously

Chongzhen was stunned, "There is such a thing?" Take it to me~! Chongzhen hurriedly took the notebook, his gaze moved back and forth along the handwriting on the notebook, "This Song Youliang~ is too bold, right?" Chongzhen finally said this

Wang Chengen took out a bag from his sleeve pocket, presented it with both hands, and said: "For this matter, Jinyiwei has a detailed secret report, and the old slave thinks that this Song Youliang is not so rebellious, but there is a reason for it~"

"Hurry up, bring it~~" Chongzhen leaned out and took the bag from Wang Chengen's hand, and after opening the bag, there was a thick stack of papers, about a dozen sheets